Copyholder for typewriters



y 1934- J. E. CAESAR El AL ,958,

COP-YHOLDER FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Oct. 19., 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l I] ll llll I Hl'lllllllllllllll Hllllllllllllllrl fNVENTflEIJ? i W May 15, CAESAR ET AL COPYHQLDER FOR TYPEWRI TERS Filed Oct. 19, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 15, 1934 UNITED STATES COPYHOLDER FOR TYPEWRITERS Julius E. Caesar and Willi E. C. Meistering, St. Paul, Minn.

Application October 19, 1932, Serial No. 638,561

7 Claims.

Our invention relates to copy holding means for typewriters such means comprising a dual purpose device which may be built either as an integral part of a typewriter or as an attachment for typewriters.

The main object is to provide a light, durable and highly eflicient copy holding device for typewriters and adapted to be mounted on the rear part of a carriage in such manner that typewriting, manuscript, print or shorthand is adjustably retained directly in front of the typist, whether such copy is on a sheet of paper or in the leaves of a notebook. Further objects and advantages of our device are hereinafter fully set forth reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Fig. 1 is a front view of our device in the form of a typewriter attachment and removably fixed to the upper edge part of a paper table of a typewriter, the platen of the latter shown in full lines and the typewriter carriage in dotted lines only.

Fig. 2 is a modification of Fig. 1 showing our device as integral of the paper table and the spring-pressed copy-paper retaining device of our apparatus removed to expose certain paper feeding means.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional detail view as on line 3-3 in Fig. 1 with the note book holder of our device omitted.

Fig. 4 is a perspective rear view of our device in the form comprising a typewriter attachment and including the lower part of our detachable note book holder in operative position.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the spring pressed frame of our device and the rubber surfaced roller thereof in operative position.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional detail view as on line 66 in Fig. 4 showing our note book attachment in operative position.

Fig. 7 is a top edge view of the note book holder.

Fig. 8 is a top view of our device as on line 8-8 in Fig. 1 showing in detail mainly the relative operative positions of the main frame and spring pressed auxiliary frame.

Fig. 9 is a rear view of the upper right hand corner part of Fig. 2, modified.

Referring to the drawings by reference numerals 9 designates the rotary typing roller or so-called platen of a typewriter, suitably mounted in the usual carriage 10 reciprocable horizontally in the main frame (not shown) of a typewriter, the said carriage designated in dotted lines only in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Rearward of the platen 9 is mounted the usual rearwardly inclined so-called paper table 11 between the lower edge of which and the rear side of platen 9 typewriting paper 12 (Fig. 3) is inserted downwardly and forwardly under the platen and projecting upwardly at the front side of the latter moving upwardly from the roller as typewriting of successive lines thereon progresses.

13 are the usual platen knobs for turning the platen, or other suitable means well known in typewriters, and are used to move the paperprogressively on the platen.

Our device comprises an auxiliary paper table 14 comprising in the attachment form of our device (Fig. 1) a sheet metal main, elongated frame normally fixed in a common plane to and with the paper table 11, or in the built in type of our device comprising an integral upward extension or enlargement of the paper table designated 14A in Fig. 2.

Referring particularly to the detachable form of our device the main frame comprises an elongated sheet metal panel formed with integral rearwardly directed upright flanges 14F one at each end, and at its top with a rearwardly directed almost horizontal flange 1413. Near its lower edge is provided an elongated horizontal slit 14S through which the paper table projects upwardly and rearwardly and its upper edge contacting with the lower inner curvature of a lower rearwardly curved flange 14D integral of the auxiliary table 14 and extending in a curvature rearwardly from a larger slit 15 just over and parallel to slit 148 in table 14.

Above slit 15 the main frame has an upper face 14E (Fig. 2) from the upper edge of which it extends rearwardly in the upper inclined flange 14B previously described. In said face 14E just above opening 15 we provide a row of apertures 16 through each of which projects forwardly a rubber faced roller 1'7, said rollers fixed on a horizontal shaft 18 journaled in the opposite end flanges 14F of the plate 14, and the outer extremities of said shaft provided each with a turn button or knob 19. These rollers are the turning means for feeding a copy sheet 20 (Figs. 1 and 3) between them and a continuous rubber faced, parallel roller 21 mounted in a spring pressed sheet metal frame 22 mounted on stub The spring pressed frame 22 is constructed as follows:

This frame will hereinafter, for brevity, be designated as the friction member, the frame of said member comprising a horizontally elongated sheet metal frame 22 with a forward upright wall the upper edge of which is formed with a horizontal ledge 22A terminating in an upright flange 22B normally bearing toward the upper part of face 14E of the main plate because of the action of two two-armed coil springs 25, one arm of each contacting with the outer surface of the upright wall of the friction member. Flange 22B is normally pressed toward face 14E but spaced slightly forward of it to provide. a slit through which copy paper 20 slides freely down to and between rollers 17 and 21 and below said rollers the paper extends down and out rearwardly, being guided by the rearwardly curved lower edge 22C of the friction member 22 and which curved part projects rearwardly through the upper part of the aperture 15 of the main plate 1 1 and which curved flange 226 is parallel to and over the rearwardly curved flange 14D. Obviously the main part of the opening 15 is at all times open. 26 is a slit in flange 223 to expose, one line at a time, of matter printed or written on copy sheet 20.

The copy sheet 29 is inserted downwardly as described hanging down freely behind the device, thefriction member being spread forwardly toallow the paper 20 to pass downwardly between and past the rollers, being rolled further downwardly as far as necessary when the rollers are in contact. As soon as the friction member is released the paper is contacted between them and the rollers are rotated by the buttons 19 to feed the paper upwardly or downwardly as desired.

The paper 12 on which the typist is to work is placed in the typewriter in the usual manner, viz,--one edge is passed downwardly behind the platen 9 rolled around lower side of platen coming up in front of it to required starting point for typing after which this paper is fed progressively by the usual typewriter means. As the upper edge of this paper moves upwardly it is started and guided through opening 15 and said edge allowed to hang down freely rearward of the main plate as distinctly shown in Fig. 3,'in which figure the lower end of sheet 12 is guided forwardly also through opening 15 and under the part of the same sheet being fed outwardly and rearwardly.

Assuming that a typist is typing on sheet 12, matter printed on sheet 20 and exposed as described; after each line of printed matter on 20 has been typed the operator merely turns a button 19 to expose the successive lines to be copied from sheet 20.

In some instances, however, where matter on sheet 20 is to be typed line for line on sheet 12 we provide direct gear connection between shaft 18 and the shaft 98 of the platen (see Fig. 2) said gear means comprising on each of said shafts a gear 27 andbetween them an idler gear 28 suitably, rotatably mounted as on a stub shaft 29 and meshing with both gears 27. Thus when the platen 9 is rotated for line spacing the shaft 18 will be likewise and simultaneously rotated and cause the succeeding lines of printed or written matter to be exposed.

30 is an aperture in the central part of frame 22 through which the typist may readily observe when the lower edge of sheet 20 is moved to a position close to the friction, feed rollers and at which time the typist knows that the work being copied is near the lowest terminus of the sheet and be in readiness to replace the sheet for further copy work.

In Figs. 1, 4 and 6 we have illustrated a note book holder attachment for our device designed particularly for use by typists in transcribing short-hand. This attachment comprises mainly a quadrangular metal plate 31 the lower edge part of which is reduced and tapered to fit frictionally downwardly through an elongated slit 32 in the flange 14B of the main plate 14, said lower edge adapted to fit slidably between a pair of upwardly projecting metal tongues 14T and the adjacent rear face of the plate 14. Said tongues are formed preferably of. the metal struck out from the apertures 16 (see Fig. 4). The uppermost edge part of this holder is formed with a rigid bar 31A spaced rearwardly of the main plate as by spacers 33 and providing an elongated slit 34.

Through the slit 3% a back cover 353 of a typists note book 35 may be inserted downwardly to be retained parallel to. the back of plate 31 the binding 35A of the book being just above the top edge of the holder (see Fig. 6). Forward of the binding the leaves of the book rest against the inclined front ,of plate 31 exposing short hand notes desired to be transcribed. As each page of the note book is finished, it is merely turned over the binding 35A rearwardly and hangs down rearwardly of the plate as shown. The note book and holder 31 may be removed together from the typewriter, the holder 31 then being usable as a rigid rest for the note book when a typist is taking dictation in shorthand.

The preferred construction and use of our device has now been fully described. It is obvious that in the use of our copy holders means the copy is mounted on and travels with the typewriter carriage being always directly in front of the typist. In means hitherto used, as far as we are aware, it has been necessary for a typist to shift her eyes from copy in one location, usually to one side of the typewriter, then to the work being done on the typewriter and vice versa. Under these eye-straining conditions errors are easily made in transcribing. In our-device the work is always directly in front of the typist, as stated, whether the work being copied is printed, written in longhand or in shorthand, only a single line is exposed at a time and possibilities of typographical errors are. reduced to a minimum.

The preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated, but it will be understood that mechanical equivalents of various details and assembly may be embodied without departing from the scope and spirit of our invention.

In Fig. 1 our device is illustrated as an attachment for typewriters in which plate 14 is retained in common plane with the paper table 11 by means of a pair of pawls 36 pivoted as at 37 to plate 14, said pawls located so as to frictionally engage the forward face of 11 at its opposite ends. The upper edge of the paper table 11 is insertable through slit 14S and contacts under flange 14D simultaneously as the pawls engage frictionally as described thus holding the detachable device rigidly in place. In Fig. 2 part 14A is integral of the device, corresponding to table 11 of Fig. 1, said part 14A comprising the paper table of the typewriter and the lower part of the main plate of our device.

In the modification Fig. 9 the shaft carrying the rollers 17 is tubular and designated 18', shaft 18 at the right side of the device being slidably insertable through flange 14F intothe tubular shaft. 18 is an elongated slot in tube 18 inwardly of flange 14F and in which a fixed pin 18P of shaft 18 engages slidably. With this construction of the roller shaft it is obvious that by pulling button 19 outwardly the gear means 2728 are readily disengaged, or engaged by reverse movement of the button for selective independent or synchronized feeding of sheets 12 and 20.

We claim:

1. A copy holder for typewriters having a horizontally reciprocable carriage, a manually rotatable platen mounted longitudinally in the forward part of said carriage and an upright paper table mounted in parallel relation to said platen; said holder comprising an upright rearwardly inclined sheet metal main frame provided with an elongated lower slit, an upper integral flange extending rearward of said main frame in obtuse angular relation thereto and provided with a narrow slit parallel to the first described slit, a secondary elongated pivotally mounted sheet metal frame pivotally mounted parallel to and between said two slits of the main frame, journal means on the main frame at the opposite ends of said large slit and pivotally supporting the secondary frame at its respective lower end corners, spring means yieldably pressing said secondary frame toward the front face of the main frame, the upper edge part of the secondary frame comprising an upright flange normally spaced slightly forward of the main frame near its said upper flange, dual paper contacting roller means mounted longitudinally in said secondary and main frames, said rollers pressed into yieldable contact by the spring means described and roller buttons on one of said rollers to turn said rollers simultaneously to feed a paper between them and said paper arranged to be moved upwardly between said upper flange of the secondary frame and the adjacent face of the main frame.

2. The structure specified in claim 1, said secondary frame comprising in part a lower integral rearwardly curved flange projecting through the large slit of the main frame for the purpose set forth.

3. The structure specified in claim 1 and a note book holder comprising a rigid integral plate with a reduced, tapered lower edge part adapted to be removably retained in said upper, narrow slit of the main frame and a number of horizontally spaced upwardly projecting integral tongues extending rearwardly and thence upwardly from the rear face of the main frame and below said narrow slit to frictionally retain said lower edge part of the note book holder between said tongues and the adjacent face of the main frame with the said holder in an approximately common plane with the main frame.

4. The structure specified in claim 1 and a note book holder comprising a rigid integral plate with a reduced, tapered lower edge part adapted to be removably retained in said upper, narrow slit of the main frame and a number of horizontally spaced upwardly projecting integral tongues extending rearwardly and thence upwardly from the rear face of the main frame and below said narrow slit to frictionally retain said lower edge part of the note book holder between said tongues and the adjacent face of the main frame with the said holder in an approximately common plane with the main frame and a bar spaced in fixed parallel relation to the upper edge part of said note book holder to provide a narrow slit therebetween.

5. The structure specified in claim 1 in which said upright flange of the secondary frame is provided with an elongated slit to expose one line at a time of printed or written matter on the sheet thereunder.

6. A copy holder for typewriters having a horizontally reciprocable carriage, a manually rotatable platen mounted longitudinally in the forward part of said carriage and an upright paper table mounted in parallel relation tosaid platen; said holder comprising an upright rearwardly inclined sheet metal main frame provided with an elongated lower slit, an upper integral flange extending rearward of said main frame in obtuse angular relation thereto and provided with a narrow slit parallel to the first described slit, a secondary elongated pivotally mounted sheet metal frame pivotally mounted parallel to and between said two slits of the main frame, journal means on the main frame at the opposite ends of said large slit and pivotally supporting the secondary frame at its respective lower end corners, spring means yieldably pressing said secondary frame toward the front face of the main frame, the upper edge part of the secondary frame comprising an upright flange normally spaced slightly forward of the main frame near its said upper flange, dual paper contacting roller means mounted longitudinally in said secondary and main frames, said rollers pressed into yieldable contact by the spring means described and roller buttons on one of said rollers to turn said rollers simultaneously to feed a paper between them and said paper arranged to be moved upwardly between said upper flange of the secondary frame and the adjacent face of the main frame, said secondary frame provided in its forward central part with an aperture located below the level of the friction roller means described.

7. The structure specified in claim 1 in which said copy holder comprises a" removable attachment arranged to be removably secured to the upper edge part of the typewriter paper table, means for securing the attachment comprising a semi-tubular flange to contact with the upper rear edge of the paper table and pawls pivotally mounted on the holder and arranged to frictionally engage the paper table forward of and below the upperl extremity of the latter.

JULIUS E. CAESAR. WILLI E. C. MEISTERING. 

